Dativ-Lokativ: -д/-т

The dative-locative: -д, -т

One Mongolian case does the work of several English prepositions: "in", "at", "on" a place, "to" or "for" a person, and "at" a time. Its ending is -д or -т.

Use	Mongolian	English
place	Би Улаанбаатарт амьдардаг.	I live in Ulaanbaatar.
place	Ээж гэрт байна.	Mum is at home.
person (to, for)	Надад ном өгөөч.	Give me a book, please.
time	Найман цагт уулзъя.	Let's meet at eight.
destination	Сургуульд явна.	(I'm) going to school.

-д or -т?

The usual ending is -д: Дархан → Дарханд, сургууль → сургуульд, ээж → ээжид. After a stem ending in в, р, с or г, it is -т: гэр → гэрт, Улаанбаатар → Улаанбаатарт, автобус → автобуст. After some consonant clusters and after т or д, a vowel is inserted: хот → хотод (in the city). Words with a hidden н show it here: ширээ → ширээн дээр, ус → усанд (in the water).

The pronouns are irregular: надад (to me), чамд (to you), танд (to you, polite), түүнд (to him/her), бидэнд (to us).

For English speakers

You do not need to choose between "in", "at" and "on" for a place: Говьд is "in the Gobi", ажилд "at work". The case also expresses having: Надад цаг байна - I have time (literally "to me time is"). The common slip is to use the ending with motion verbs where Mongolian prefers the directional руу/рүү for "towards" (хот руу явна, heading to the city); -д with явах means arriving at or attending, as in сургуульд явна.